The family used to stay at Kenway house (opposite Robert Money School), Proctor road, Grant Road. His family then moved to Jogeshwari within Mumbai where he stayed at the newly formed Saraswati Baug Colony until the age of 8 years. His first 8 years and Saraswati Baug is described in the story titled "Balpanicha Kaal Sukhacha" (translation: the happy days of childhood) in his book Purchundi. The family then moved to Vile Parle.[6]

His first wife (the former Ms. Sundar Divadkar from a family in Karjat) died soon after the wedding in the early 1940s. On 12 June 1946, Deshpande married his colleague, Sunita Thakur.[5] Thakur was to go on to become an accomplished writer in her own right.[7] His maternal cousin was Indian actor Satish Dubhashi.[citation needed]

Both Deshpande and his wife served as teachers in Orient High School, Mumbai. He also worked for some years as a college professor in Rani Parvati Devi College Belgaum, Karnataka and Kirti College, Mumbai. He also worked for newly founded Doordarshan, the state owned Indian TV. He was the first person to interview the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on Indian television. He was deputed to the BBC in UK for a year-long training. After which he spent some time in France and in West Germany. It was this specific period and stays in these countries that his later travelogue "Apoorvai" was to be based upon. His other travelogue include Poorvarang" and Jave Tyanchya Desha.[5][6]

Deshpande died in Pune, Maharashtra on 12 June 2000 due to complications from Parkinson's disease. He was aged 80. He was survived by his wife Sunita. He died on the 54th anniversary of their wedding.[8][1]

Most of Deshpande's literary contributions are deeply rooted in Marathi language.[6] Although he wrote across several genres, he was particularly well-known for his humorist literature. He produced several original works and also adapted of prominent works from other languages into Marathi. Prominent examples include the 1952 film अंमलदार (Ammaldar, based on Nikolai Gogol's Inspector General), the 1962 book काय वाट्टेल ते होईल (Kay Wattel Te Hoeel. Based on translation of Helen and George Papashvily's script of Anything Can Happen) etc. He referred to his adaptations as भावानुवाद (Bhawanuwad or paraphrasing) instead of the conventional "translation" or "adaptation"[citation needed].